


flares are going up

by blackkat



Series: Skywalker prompts [4]
Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/F, Fix-It, Humor, Jedi Leia Organa, Rage, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25560772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: “TheLiberty’s all ready if we need to make a quick getaway,” Bly says, only partially a joke. “I've got Lucky and Flash standing by to storm the bridge and carry General Leia away.”Which entirely rests on the assumption that Leia willletherself be carried away, and Aayla doesn’t precisely have a lot of faith that that will happen.
Relationships: Aayla Secura/Leia Organa
Series: Skywalker prompts [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941652
Comments: 40
Kudos: 488





	flares are going up

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: Leia has traveled back in time and Aayla has to save Anakin from her trying to strangle him.

“You're sure you can do this?” Aayla asks gently. “No one will blame you for waiting.”

“ _I’ll_ blame me for waiting,” Leia says sharply, but when Aayla touches light fingers against her wrist, she turns her hand, grabs Aayla's, and squeezes.

Aayla squeezes back, smiling at her. “Obi-Wan will be there,” she points out, because mention of Obi-Wan is generally a good way to deescalate once Leia starts getting tense.

“That’s what I'm afraid of,” Leia says grimly. “I'm going to have to look at Obi-Wan and _him_ and smile at them like I'm just another _Jedi_ —”

“Not _just another_ ,” Aayla says, quiet. “ _One among many_.”

Leia turns and looks at her, then takes a breath. Her mouth firms, and there's a fire in her eyes that made Aayla trip over herself, the first time she saw it on the battlefield. What she had with Kit once, that was overwhelming, but—

Leia is a storm, and she takes Aayla's breath away.

“Many,” Leia repeats, watching her, and finally smiles a little. It’s a smirk that Aayla will never tell her looks very, very much like Anakin's, even if Leia wears it better. “I guess even he can't face down _all_ the Jedi if they know what’s coming.”

And Leia is here to be sure they do, regardless of the consequences. Aayla has heard her arguments with Luke, fights on how much to reveal and how much to keep secret, but—

This story should buy them enough cover for Leia to reveal everything without worrying. Aayla just has to play her part, and she’s more than willing.

“We will,” she says, and Leia squeezes her fingers one more time, then draws herself up straight and nods.

“All right,” she says, steely. “I'm ready.”

Aayla isn't about to doubt her. She nods, then casts a quick smile at Bly as he approaches, and asks teasingly, “Do I need to take your lightsaber away from you?”

“You might _need_ to, but you're not _going_ to,” Leia says flatly, and keys the door open.

That’s not the most promising start, Aayla thinks wryly, but she follows Leia's ringing bootfalls up towards the command deck of the _Negotiator_.

“The _Liberty_ ’s all ready if we need to make a quick getaway,” Bly says, only partially a joke. “I've got Lucky and Flash standing by to storm the bridge and carry General Leia away.”

Which entirely rests on the assumption that Leia will _let_ herself be carried away, and Aayla doesn’t precisely have a lot of faith that that will happen.

“Thank you, Bly,” she says, and touches his vambrace lightly. “Have you heard from Master Quinlan?”

“I'm assuming no news is good news,” Bly says, a little wry, and Aayla snorts in agreement. Quinlan and Luke are going after Dooku. There are so _many_ things that can go wrong, but—Aayla is trying to have faith.

The handful of them who are in one this plot have all the reason in the world to keep their faith, though. Leia is the greatest sign of that.

Or maybe, Aayla thinks, smiling, she’s just biased.

“Aayla,” Obi-Wan says, straightening as Leia takes the stairs up to the command center, Aayla a pace behind her. His eyes linger on Leia for a moment, no doubt feeling the curls of carefully-channeled fury and determination, then flicker down to the lightsaber clipped to her belt. “And a new face.”

“I'm only new if you haven’t been paying attention,” Leia says challengingly, tilting her chin up. Which, Aayla supposes, is entirely factually correct. The Senate was Leia's first stop, and no one there was quiet about her in the aftermath, whether they loved her or hated her.

Obi-Wan’s brows wing up, but he keeps his pleasant expression as he steps forward to meet them. “Well, I suppose I must not have been, then. Please forgive me for my oversight.”

“What do you mean, forgive you?” Anakin says, mulish, and comes around the edge of the table to stand next to Obi-Wan. Aayla can see the way Leia's shoulders instantly go tight, can feel the snapping _rage_ that courses through her and then is dismissed in a wash of steel-edged determination. “You're not at fault here, Obi-Wan. Who even are you?”

 _Alderaan_ , Leia thinks, and Aayla only just catches the edges of it, but it’s quickly shoved down, shut away. She catches up with two quick steps, pressing a hand to the small of Leia's back. and smiles at Obi-Wan. “Master Obi-Wan, good to see you again. Anakin.”

“Aayla,” Anakin acknowledges, though he’s frowning at Leia. “You're keeping strange company these days.”

Leia takes a breath that’s ready to snarl, but before she can, Aayla tips her head, lets a lek curl around Leia's wrist. “Strange? Another Jedi is hardly unacceptable company, Anakin.”

“Jedi?” Anakin asks, startled, and he looks Leia over—

“Yes, _Jedi_ ,” Leia snaps, and doesn’t put her hand on her lightsaber. “Who did you think I was, a senator like your _wife_?”

Anakin goes instantly, dangerously white, and his eyes widen.

Tellingly, Obi-Wan only looks mildly startled. “Wife?” he asks, and slants a glance at Anakin. “Anakin, you _married_ Padmé and didn’t even bother to invite me?”

Anakin's mouth opens, but not a single sound comes out.

Leia's smirk is a dangerous thing, and is Aayla had an ounce less composure, she’d probably try to drag Leia off somewhere secluded right then and there. “Say hello for me, next time you meet up with her to whine about not being appreciated enough,” she says. “Even though you _know_ you're not fit to be a Master yet.”

“Excuse me,” Obi-Wan says, noticeably cooler, and steps right in front of Anakin. “I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don’t know you.”

“I'm Leia,” Leia says, and it’s a dare, a taunt, a challenge all in one. “Leia Skywalker.”

“ _What_?” Anakin demands. He steps past Obi-Wan, glaring, and his shoulders are tight, his hand close to his lightsaber. “You can't be! You're _wrong._ ”

“Of course I'm not,” Leia snaps. “ _Wrong_? Just because I say something you disagree with? Of course you’d take that track. I suppose you're not a _murderer_ , either, just because you don’t like being called _names_.”

“Leia,” Aayla says, and tightens her lek just a little. “You can—”

“It’s a _war_ ,” Anakin says loudly, and takes a looming step towards Leia. “Anyone I've killed has been an enemy of the Republic—”

Leia makes a sound of pure, incandescent fury and _lunges_. With a yelp, Aayla throws herself after her, grabbing her around the waist and hauling her back half an inch before her hands can close around Anakin's neck. “ _Leia_ ,” she says, and Leia snarls, but doesn’t fight it as Aayla bodily picks her up and carries her three steps back.

“ _Fine_ ,” she spits. “But as soon as Luke gets here, I'm going to _gut_ the bastard.”

Unlike most people using that tone, she’s definitely not talking about Aayla's Master. Aayla sighs, but hooks her arm through Leia's and aims her best smile at Obi-Wan, who’s eyeing Leia like a loth-cat that suddenly turned into a nexu. “Perhaps we should sit down and discuss this in a more comfortable setting,” she says. “Leia has information on Grievous’s location, and her twin is nearing Dooku's base. Once he’s close, he’ll comm us.”

“He’ll contact _me_ ,” Leia corrects sharply. “I'm the only one who can hear him across half the galaxy.”

Obi-Wan blinks at her, like he can't even begin to comprehend this statement.

“ _Hear_ him?” Anakin demands. “Through the _Force_? How is that even possible?”

Leia's grin has _teeth_. “I guess you're not the most dangerous almost-Jedi anymore, _slimeball_.”

This, Aayla reflects, might not have been the best idea after all.


End file.
